Has Google Beaten Facebook To Waze?

Reports around the world are claiming that internet giant Google have been the winners in the race to buy the GPS navigation service Waze, beating off competition from both Facebook and Apple who were reportedly also hoping to purchase the company.

Israeli newspaper reports have stated that the Israel based technology firm Waze have been in talks with Google in the last few days to finalise a deal worth at least one billion dollars.

The Haaretz daily newspaper reported that Google and Waze had been in talks on Sunday and that the two companies had finally come to a deal exceeding a billion dollars with some reports stating that the final amount for the purchase of Waze was in the region of $1.3 billion.

It has been reported that Google were not the only heavy weight company interested in Waze with newspapers claiming that both Facebook and Apple also had put in bids to buy the company that created a GPS mobile navigation app for smartphones.

A source told Haaretz that the deal between Google and Waze would see Google paying the full amount agreed in the deal in cash while another clause from Waze would be to continue the development centre for Waze in Israel for the next three years.

According to Haaretz: “Waze will retain its independent identity both as a company and as a brand” with them then adding that Facebook had wanted the company to relocate to their headquarters in California.

Waze has become a sought after prize by the large internet companies because it has developed an app for smartphones that allows users to share information about traffic including where there are crashes, delays and roadworks. The real time information allows other users to be able to navigate routes faster and more economically.

Currently Waze employs around 100 people in Israel and already has around 50 million users across the world using their software.

It is thought that the information that is uploaded by users could then be used by Google to develop other software and apps because the users allow the app to track their movements which could potentially allow Google to focus advertising to where these users are at the time in real time.

There have been no official comments from Google or Waze about the purchase of the company despite requests from several news agencies.

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